UFC 162: July 6, 2013 MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada UFC Middleweight Contender Tim Boetsch (-120) Profile: Tim Boetsch (16-5) is in his second stint in the UFC and has been much more successful than the first, posting a 5-2 mark, including 4-1 at middleweight. The 32-year-old made his UFC debut at UFC 81 back in 2008 and beat David Heath via first-round TKO but lost two of his next three fights. He then bounced around three different organizations for his next three bouts before returning to the UFC in 2010, when he defeated Todd Brown by unanimous decision at UFC 117 at light heavyweight. “The Barbarian” proceeded to lose to Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis via submission at UFC 123 before moving down to middleweight. He won his first two UFC fights at middleweight by unanimous decision against Kendall Grove at UFC 130 and Nick Ring at UFC 135 before knocking out Yushin Okami at UFC 144 and following that up with a controversial split-decision victory against Hector Lombard at UFC 149. He is coming off his first loss at 185 against Costa Philippou via third-round TKO at UFC 155. UFC Middleweight Contender Mark Munoz (-120) Profile: Mark Munoz (12-3) is 7-2 in his last nine fights and 7-3 in the UFC, but he has not fought since suffering a brutal knockout loss at the hands and elbow of top middleweight contender Chris Weidman at UFC on FUEL TV 4 nearly a year ago. Munoz was viewed as one of the top middleweights up until that point, and his loss played a big role in Weidman vaulting to the top and earning a title shot against champion Anderson Silva. The 35-year-old vet was riding a four-fight winning streak before losing to Weidman, beating Demian Maia at UFC 131 and Aaron Simpson at UFC 123 by unanimous decision and knocking out C.B. Dollaway at UFC on Versus 3 in addition to second-round TKO win over Chris Leben. Opening UFC 162 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made this fight a Pick’em with Boetsch and Munoz each opening at -120 (bet $120 to win $100) at Several Bookmakers sportsbook. Both are coming off knockout losses to top contenders in the UFC middleweight division, although Boetsch has been more active with one more fight since Munoz last entered the Octagon. However, each of them are still ranked in the Top 10 at middleweight. How they rebound here will go a long way to showing whether or not they could still work their way into the title mix, as both were likely within a win away from fighting for Silva’s belt before they lost. Remember, Boetsch was originally scheduled to fight Weidman at UFC 155 but fell to injury replacement Philippou instead while Munoz got destroyed by the No. 1 contender who did earn the title shot against Silva in the main event of this UFC 162 card. Boetsch is three years younger than Munoz, but both are MMA veterans in their own right with something to prove. Munoz might have more on the line though considering his lengthy time off from a broken foot. Is he still one of the best middleweights in the world, and was his brutal loss to Weidman just a fluke? Boetsch has some heavy hands and will definitely test Munoz with 12 finishes (seven knockouts and five submissions) among his 16 wins. If Munoz can get past Boetsch, he could move within one win away again from his goal of a middleweight title shot.
